1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to sheetboard products such as doors and panels and especially those manufactured from a veneered core of chipboard, particle board, or the like. More particularly the invention is directed towards a new and improved method of providing a relief surface to a panel having a one-piece core which may be laminated with a hard plastic or other veneer surface and the product made thereby irrespective of the veneer thickness.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many products utilize veneers such as those sold under the trademark "Formica" and which includes a stratum of urea-and-phenol-formaldehyde resins, bonded to a sheet of plywood, chipboard or the like. Such panels are strong and the hard plastic veneer is extremely durable, presenting a smooth, hard surface. Such laminated boards are used for wall panels in some instances, but more commonly are used in kitchen cabinets, vanities and the like where resistance to water spotting, ease of cleaning and other characteristics are desirable.
While cabinets fabricated, either in whole or in part, by such laminated boards are very durable and functional they are limited with respect to the design configurations which may be produced using such boards. Generally, such boards are available only in flat, smooth stock which cannot be milled into attractive cabinet work since the milling would remove parts of the hard plastic veneer and the ultimate finishing would be extremely expensive. As a result, cabinets currently available which are fabricated from such laminated board have utilized doors, panels, etc., which are either completely flat and smooth or have a very light, shallow scoring formed therein in an attempt to provide some relief appearance to the product.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method for producing a genuine relief surface to such laminated boards while maintaining an outer exposed surface of the panel that is substantially fully covered by the veneer. A further object of the invention is to provide relief cabinet doors, panels and the like fabricated from veneer boards such as chipboard, particle board, and the like, covered by veneers such as vinyls, hard plastics, wood, prints and those commonly known as UV surfaces and the like.